September and part of October

Apparently I haven't been very good at keeping up with this blog.  I have good intentions, but it doesn't happen.  Right now I find myself with 50 minutes of spare time, which has become very rare.

Okay September.  School was a huge challenge for Olivia.  She'd cry every morning when I dropped her off no matter what I said to her.  It would tear me to pieces seeing her that way, but I kept a strong face and tried to encourage her.  It eventually got to point where I had to tell her that I wasn't going to listen to the crying anymore.  That seemed to help.  What made the biggest impact was asking her what her last name is. Odd, yes, but this worked.  She told me what our last name is and I told her because of this last name we can do hard things.  She thought about it and proudly walked into her classroom, tear free, and told her teacher that she could do hard things.  We talked about this later in the day and I explained to her that some things might seem hard right now, but soon they will be easy.  We have been tear-free almost every day since!

We found out the gender of the baby in early September too.  We're having a BOY!  I'm very excited.  After having my two girls and planning on this being my last child; I really wanted a boy.  This will be the first grandson on both sides.  My mom currently has 9 granddaughters!

Olivia started swim lessons again after having a break for 2 months.  She is s-l-o-w-l-y making progress.  Coming from a girl who was afraid of getting her face wet, the progress she has done has been remarkable.

October 9-- Third week of lessons Olivia finally puts her face in the water.  She said it was amazing!

Lucia decided to potty train herself.   I'm not complaining.  Lucia is stubborn and pretty much does things on her own timetable.  One day she decided that she was going to wear panties and go potty.  I wasn't able to argue with her.  I made her a potty chart that she worked diligently to complete.  The reward was swim lessons with Olivia.  We're now starting a new chart to record the nights that she wakes up dry.  She really wants to wear panties to bed like Olivia but this will come with time.

Olivia was recognized at her horse lessons this past week.  She was their 2000th session this year and to celebrate there was cake, balloons and a bag full of goodies for her.  This week is their last session for the year.  I complain to myself every week about the hour drive (each way) but once we're there it's total bliss.  I look forward to next May when sessions begin again.

Olivia at Resolution Horse -- Their 2000th session rider this year.

Lucia and Olivia with two of the volunteers.  Patty in the blue and Terry in the brown.  They have been wonderful to work with!

Lucia started her first swim lessons this week.  She is doing really well.  She won't jump into the pool unless helped and won't put her head under the water, but this will come with time.  I was determined to start her much earlier than Olivia to hopefully get rid of the fear early.

Lucia-- first swim lessons with her teacher Amie

I have been carpooling with a lady in my apartment complex to and from school.  I take the kids to school and she picks up.  I am not a morning person but I LOVE this time in the morning with Olivia.  It's 20 minutes that we get to talk.  I'm using the time in the car to work on various things like memorization, reading, math facts, or just to talk.  On Tuesday I asked her what she wanted to talk about and she wanted to talk about the circulatory system.  She's always been fascinated with the human body.  You would think that she'd want to become a doctor in the future but her reply is a cowgirl mommy.

September was also the Brigham City Temple open house which was a very special treat for our family!

Olivia, Nicol and Lucia at the Brigham city open house.

I guess we're caught up now.  Hopefully I can stay on top of this a little better....

Mighty Mind

When Olivia was about 2yrs old we received a Mighty Mind set. She would spend a good hour manuvering the pieces to fit into the spaces on the card.  I loved the logic that she had to use to figure out how to make the picture.

Today, we unpacked Mighty Mind and Lucy greatly enjoyed it.  (I should say that we have Mighty Mind as well as a similar set)  She did a fantastic job looking at what shape should be put down next.   I also found that Lucy knows nearly all of her shapes.  :)

And they are also great to use to build a fence and a playground.  Love Olivia's imagination!



Utah Natural History Museum

Thursday was a very rainy day, but rain that was very much needed.  It seems that half of our state has been burning with the wild fires so we all welcomed the rain.  We headed to the new Natural History Museum on the University campus and thought it would be a welcomed change for us.

We arrived early and had plenty of time to explore the museum before it became too crowded.  We thought for a mere moment about going to the free day this coming Monday but since all the tickets were sold out and considering that I HATE crowds, I was willing to pay the $15 for the 4 of us to go.  I should clarify that Ed was free because he's a student and Lucy was also free since she's two.  We only paid for Olivia and I.

Exploring with Dad.

In the water section, Lucy and Olivia were 'fishing' for fish and bugs.  Lucy was terrified of the plastic bugs.  She tells me that she fears are having to kiss spiders or beetles.

Olivia loves rocks.  She has a pretty good collection at home so naturally she would explore the rocks and fossils.

In a few places there were these window floors where you can see right down into an exhibit.  This was dinosaur bones.  The girls were afraid of falling and to make it worse they were afraid of the dinosaur sounds in the background.  All of our talks about the dinosaurs being extinct did no good.

Lots of dinosaur bones.

We stopped for a lunch break at the Museum cafe.  I really didn't think the food was very good.  Lucy was super hungry and actually ate her entire sandwich and bag of carrots.  She asked for a chocolate doughnut and ate around the outside of the doughnut.

Ed examining butterflies and moths while Lucy plays with various animals puppets.  She really enjoyed the skunk and bald eagle puppets.

I'm glad that we went when it first opened.  By 2p when we left it was VERY crowded.  There were so many exhibits and things that I hope to visit often when Olivia is in school studying these things.  It's so nice to have this new and fantastic museum!

Sprinkler Day

On Tuesday our apartment complex had a sprinkler day for the children.  They turned on the huge rainbird sprinklers that I remember from my youth, large slip 'n slides, kiddie pools and Popsicles to cool off with.

Olivia and Lucy were very excited to play in the water.  Lucy is holding onto her big sister in the long line to go down one of two slip 'n slides.  I thought it was darling how she was lovingly holding onto her big sister.

Olivia was ready to go down and found it thrilling.  She wasn't afraid at all.  Olivia tends to be on the cautious side of things so to see her being so brave was a nice change.

Lucy had one look of Olivia going down and was terrified.  Another surprise to me since Lucy is very daring!

Olivia was quickly in line to go down a second time and naturally loved it!

Ed was down the hill taking pictures and told me to grab Lucy and toss her down.  Here she is not too sure what is going on but didn't cry.

And quickly she decided that this was the funnest thing ever!

After that time down, Olivia and Lucy spent the allotted two hours standing in line and going down the slip 'n slides.  After a quick mold inspection back at the apartment (thankfully no mold!) Ed came out and joined the girls.  All three of them were sliding down with joy.  I wish that I had the camera to capture just how much fun they were having! 

Brave

After a week of super sick kids, we were all needing to get out of the house.  As a surprise we took the girls to a local drive-in theater to see 'Brave'.  Leading up to it we told the girls that we were taking them to a surprise.  We drove across town and Olivia would try to guess what it was.  It wasn't until we were at the theater and parked before she realized that we were watching a movie outside.

Overall it was a good experience but a few things I simply must remember IF we do this again.  First is to borrow a smaller vehicle from someone.  I hate that since I was in a mini-van we were forced to park in the rear of the parking lot.  We drove around several times and I was afraid that we would stuck behind a giant truck with a lift package.  Thankfully we found something in the back but not behind anything bigger than us.  Our view of the screen was at an angle and pretty far away.

Lucy getting ready for the movie!

Second thing to remember, When Lucy is done, Lucy is done!  She was begging half way through the movie to go home so she could sleep in her bed.  After Brave was finished and before the second feature (Avengers) we made Lucy a bed out of blankets and she finally slept.

Last thing to remember is that I do not like staying up til 2am.  I didn't enjoy much of the Avengers because I was SOOO tired!

Brave just started.  This was before the girls started to climb all over us!

Fifths

So my Lucy has been sick this week and no one could decide what she had.  It started out with a cough and then a very high 104 degree fever that lasted for only a day and yesterday a whole body rash.  It was finally the rash that gave it away, we have Fifths at our house.

It is a very common but very contagious childhood virus.  We will be cooped up in our house for the next week. :(

Bright red cheeks. 

Hard to tell but her belly, back and legs are all speckled like her arms.

Summer Reading

Olivia making bookmarks.  

Since moving, we went the the library for the first time this week.   Oh what I glorious place!  I truly feel that way.  We had a small library in our last city but it was not just small but nearly every book was old and donated from someone.  It's a great way to begin a library, but not if you want to read current books.

Now we're in a place with a County Library system and a City Library.  My lists of books to read is becoming longer and I feel more like me.

While at the County Library, I signed us up for the Summer Reading program.  Olivia must read 20 minutes a day and Lucy needs to sit while being read to.  For me, I must read 8 books in the next 2 months and then we will all receive a free book.  This should be a simple task for us, as long as we don't get distracted.

I hung up the reading charts in the girl's room and so far they are excited to mark off their reading.  I truly hope that this becomes a life long habit for them.  

Soccer Fun

Lucy saw come children in our apartment court playing soccer and she insisted on getting out our soccer ball and joining them.  It was fun to watch her even though it was right before we had to leave for an appointment.  The few minutes spent playing was well worth it.

Rodeo Fun!

Olivia's horse teacher (she does speech therapy on horses once a week) gave us free tickets to the rodeo.  This is something that none of us had experienced before and something that Olivia was beyond excited to attend.  She is a cowgirl at heart!

We all had a great time, although Lucy refused to sit still, but of course that wasn't anything new for us.  Thankfully this was a place that Lucy wasn't required to be perfectly quiet through.

Olivia's favorite event was the barrel racing.  She was hooting and cheering each rider on.  You can probably picture her excitement for each racer coming out of the gate.  Olivia would be on the edge of her seat, finally standing and practically dancing while she intently watched each barrel being circled.  By the end of the night, she firmly stated that she was going to be a barrel rider on Friday and Saturday nights.  (Her current job choice is to be a Cowgirl Mommy and maybe be a horse doctor.)

This certainly would be a fun family outing for us to participate in again!

Yes, Lucy is wearing her Ballerina swimsuit with cowgirl boots.  Thankfully it was a warmer evening!

A Silly Kind of Evening

So what started out being a calm Sunday evening turned into my girls dancing followed with some silly games.  In the end of it, I'm glad that my girls are happy.  (Please forgive me the music in the background.  It is actually me playing and I haven't played in years and I felt very nervous that it was being video taped.)  After our trip we were gifted with a much desired piano that needs some serious tuning.

My Colonial Beauties

Today was our first meeting of the new year with C.A.R. (Children of the American Revolution)

The children did a program on 9/11.  It was difficult not going into too much detail for such young crowd. There were some wonderful children's book that talked about it.  One that I loved was called, "14 Cows for America."  This book tells the true story of one man who traveled back to his home country (the Maasai Village in Africa) the June following that horrific September morning. The cows are very important in their society.  The village wanted to give something special to America to help it heal so they gave 14 cows.

My girls don't have to dress up to attend C.A.R. but I found a lady online who sews historic costumes and such.  I thought it would be fun for them to dress up.  Olivia says that it is her "Felicity" dress.  (Olivia LOVES Felicity, it's too bad it's been retired!) 

18 Months

Lucy trying on Olivia's tap shoes.  She loves to put on her sisters shoes.

Lucy is now 18 months!  She still loves dogs but also REALLY loves princesses, Dora, dinosaurs (we read the 'How do Dinosaur..." books daily), dancing, her big sister and daddy.  Lucy can be very silly at times.  When she gets giggly is usually means she is playing with Olivia.  She talks a lot and is putting simple two words together.  Things like cat food.

She is growing well.  At her 18 month well child doctor appointment her stats are:

Length: 31.25 inches  50%
Weight: 19 lbs 15 oz 3%  (Yep that means that she is still rear-facing in the car)
Head: 45 cm 10%

Life in 2 1/2 Weeks

Life has been crazy, busy, stressful, and wonderful in the past few weeks.  So much so, that I haven't had time to write about what our family has been doing.  Instead of doing 10 little posts to catch up, here is one big one with the dealings of the Montero Family.  (WARNING:  Very Long Post!)

The end of February brought an annual eye doctor appointment for Olivia and me.  I have horrible eye sight and have worn glasses or contacts since the 3rd grade (8 or 9 years old).  So I have always had to take regular visits with an eye specialist to make sure that I can properly see.  To add Olivia to our insurance for eye care was very minimal so I've been taking her in for the past 2 years.  To no surprise, Olivia is farsighted and most likely will need glasses once she starts reading.  I probably haven't mentioned that she is starting to sound out words and will be reading in no time.  I'm sure at our next visit it will result in her picking out a pair of reading glasses.  As for me, I am tired of suffering with horrible dry eyes (from the contacts) that I am wearing glasses more and more.  I picked out a really cute frame.

Olivia is fascinated with how the human body works.  She is constantly asking questions, observing and making comments.  At a play date early in the month, she was running around the house with her friend trying to escape the monster "Lucy".  Lucy didn't mind being the monster, she wants to be one of the big girls so bad that she is willing to take this role in order to run with them.  While running, Olivia bumped her head on the doorway and cried a little.  Once she was calmed down she broke out into heavy sobs.  I asked what was wrong and she replied, "My brain is now ruined!"  I couldn't help laughing but preceded to have a teaching moment about the function of our skulls.  Since then, she often will draw a brain on people as she colors.

With her fascination of the body, Olivia has decided she wants to be a doctor.  What type depends on the day.  Some days it's a bone doctor, a mama doctor that helps deliver babies and most recently a heart doctor.  I am more than happy to encourage this desire of hers!  Although hopefully she will not be so squeamish around blood.  I like doctor type shows and on one occasion Olivia came in while I was watching an episode.  She watched just for a moment and then literally turned green.  In a panic she tells me, "I'm going to throw up!"  She runs to the bathroom and thankfully was able to calm her stomach down.  She headed back downstairs telling that she only likes to watch "little girl shows."

On March 5th, we purchased a new mattress set for Olivia.  It was finally time to move her out of the toddler bed and into a twin size bed considering how tall she is.  I recently came across a medical record for myself at my 5 year Kindergarten appointment.  My nearly 4 year old is taller than what I was when I entered Kindergarten!  She is as tall as a 5 or 6 year old!  The mattress purchasing process was a stressful joke.  We purchased it on Saturday knowing they didn't have one in stock but would have it in on Monday.  It wasn't there Monday or Tuesday.  Wednesday we were closing on our house refinance (another joke!) and called ahead to see if the mattress had arrived.  It wasn't in yet but was told it was on the way.  After an hour drive to Salt Lake, I stopped at the store to purchase some sheets for the new bed. I inquired if it arrived and was told it had.  I made arrangements for Ed to pick it up in a few hours after the mortgage closing.  He went to pick it up and was informed it wasn't there.  Either they sold it (after we paid for it in full) or it was never received.  Being told that there was one at another store location, Ed drove down to pick it up.  I met him at home only to realize that the mattress he picked up was not the mattress I purchased!  I spent 6 hours on Thursday trying to figure out where my mattress was.  On Friday, Ed packed the wrong mattress up to return it and picked up the correct mattress.  A week to get a mattress was horrible.  To top it off, Olivia's poor room was in shambles waiting for her new bed. I still want to find some nice bedding, but I will wait until a few things are a little more certain in our lives.

Cute and the not-so-cute things Olivia says:

• She often refers to me as "Mama Oso"  (Mother Bear in Spanish), Lucy as Bebe Oso, and Ed as Papa Oso.  Yep, we've become the three bears!  I tried to call Olivia Niña Oso but she tells me that she's not a bear.  Her Spanish is coming along at great speeds.  Her native Spanish speaking grandparents can actually tell what she is saying!
• I made homemade Chicken Enchiladas for dinner one night.  Olivia has become an extremely picky eater in the last few months.  She looks at her plate of food and says, "This taste like crap!"  Ed and I can not figure where she picked this one up at but hopefully have put a stop to it. 
• Out of the blue one day Olivia came up to me and told me, "You're the best mom in the whole world!"  Hearing that certainly makes my day.  I tell her that she is the best big sister in the whole world!

Lucy has really grown up over the past month.  Now 16 months old and FINALLY sleeping through the night.  I don't know what it is, but one day it happened.  She started taking really good naps and sleeping all night.  I am finally able to catch up on many months of sleep and Lucy has been such a happier child.  She acts like she is one of the big girls and tries to hard to play with Olivia.  Olivia and Lucy get along so well right now.  I love when Olivia tells me that she loves Lucy and loves playing with Lucy.

Lucy wearing her hair back in pig-tails for the first time.  She looks so grown up!

Lucy is talking more and more.  She repeats practically anything you tell her and often will repeat it back.  Her favorite new words right now are: glasses, dancer, and princess.

On March 12th, after Olivia's Birthday party, Lucy went to the package of baby wipes we brought out to wipe up hands after cake and ice.  She pulled out a wipe and tried to wipe herself (over her clothes).  I got up to put the wipes away and she runs into the bathroom and lifts the toilet lid.  I think to myself that if she wants to sit on the potty, fine by me.  I bring out the small training potty and sit her on it.  To my surprise she makes a bowel movement in the potty!  She was so proud of herself!  Now the question is do I start to toilet train my 16 month old?

After Olivia's party we went out for dinner.  We asked Olivia what she wanted to eat for her Birthday dinner and told us she wanted hot dogs.  We went to Arctic Circle (a local fast food restaurant) so she could have her hot dog and let the girls play on the indoor playground.  We don't do this often.  I hate to think about all the germs on those things.  Lucy has never really played on a playground or gone down a slide.  Her small stature (she is still wearing the clothes that Olivia wore at 9 - 12 months) certainly did not keep her away.  Once she saw Olivia head off to play, Lucy was right by her side.  Lucy is not afraid of anything and was quick to find out what she could do.  She had a great time and was able to figure out how to do everything offered to her, including the large tube slide which she loved to go down on her stomach head first!  How I wished I had a camera on me!

On March 3rd, Ed received an email saying that he passed a really hard test.  We haven't told many people about this, but the word is getting around and might as well make it official.  This test would lead to a job that we have been discussing for the past 9 years.  This job is reason Ed got his degree in Political Science and Economics. We honestly forgot about it until last summer while Ed was working in Wyoming and Nevada for 9 weeks.  Anyway, this test is the first step in a very LONG process for him to become a Foreign Service Officer.  That means he would be a diplomat working for the US State Department.  If he passes and is offered a job we would be living all over the world as he works at different embassies.  We've really put a lot of thought into this.  We spent months studying it out.  We fasted, prayed and went to the temple with the answer that this is right path for us.  Ed studied for 6 months for the FSOT (Foreign Service Officer Test) and we were ecstatic to find out he passed.  So now on for the next step.  He has to write 6 mini essays about himself.  Easy right?  These have to be about him giving an example of certain things he's done and give a name and phone number of someone who could verify it.  We'll find out the end of May if he moves onto the next step.  (I have been writing for a little about the process and our thoughts but haven't published them to the blog.  If you're interested, just click on the label 'Foreign Service'.)

On March 8th, the girls were invited over to a neighbor's house for a Seussapalooza, a fun celebration for Dr. Seuss's Birthday.  There were plenty of stories, making Cat in the Hat hats, painting with toes and finally eating Green Eggs and Ham which Olivia refused to try.  

Olivia with her Cat in the Hat hat.

Lucy was busy playing with the neighbors dog.  She LOVES dogs!

Painting with feet.  Olivia had a great time!

Helping to whisk the eggs for the Green Eggs and Ham.

Ed and I finally finished drawing up our legal documents in case something happens to us.  I made a comment at the Attorney's office earlier in the week that this sort of thing makes me happy.  Ed said that only I would find it to be like that. It's a comfort to know that if something happens to us that my children will be cared for.  We did our Last Will and Testament (Pour Over Wills), Living Will, Health Care Power of Attorney, General Power of Attorney, Living Trust and some deeds.

And finally a milestone for myself.  I finally was able to depart with the LARGE trash bag full of breast milk that I had pumped for Lucy when she was a baby.  This bag represents about 3 months of pumping before I realized that she would not take a bottle from me.  I have finally weaned Lucy (yay!) and finally took the trash bag out of the deep freezer.  The milk hasn't been good for months, if not a year.  But there was something about parting with it that I struggled with.  When I finally placed it in the trash can outside, I cried a little.  It was such a stressful time for me that was finally coming to an end.